The festive period is perhaps the most decorated part of the year for sporting events in the UK. There’s a bucket load of Premier League and EFL football, as well as the PDC Darts World Championship and a full calendar of Horse Racing on Boxing Day. Thanks to the rest of the action, one event that perhaps gets overlooked is the Welsh Grand National. Even in Horse Racing, the Welsh National is regularly left unnoticed in favour of the more glamorous Aintree Grand National and Irish Grand National, which take place earlier in the year. But the big race at Chepstow is one that should command attention. Oddschecker, which compares odds and provides free offers on Horse Racing, has already made ante-post betting available, and here are the early contenders to take home the trophy and the £150,000 prize fund.
Win My Wings – 8/1 fav
2022 has been a remarkable year for Win My Wings. She was a 28/1 winner in January at Exeter across three milers, and since then, she hasn’t looked back.
Six weeks later, the bookmakers noticed her talent and made her an 11.2 favourite in Newcastle, and she duly delivered, scarping past Eclair Surf by one-and-a-quarter lengths to secure victory. Another win would follow in Ayr, taking the Christian Williams’ trained horse’s streak to three.
However, it all came crashing down at Sandown three weeks later when she fell, allowing Hewick to take the victory. Win My Wings hasn’t raced since, so the Welsh Grand National marks a great chance to end her phenomenal year with a bang.
Kitty’s Light – 10/1 second fav
Another horse that is much fancied by the bookmakers is Kitty’s Light. Unlike Win My Wings, however, the gelding hasn’t secured a victory since way back in March 2021. He was twice a runner-up earlier in the year at Kempton and at Ayr – where he was beaten by Win My Wings.
Both horses are trained by Christian Williams, which marks an excellent opportunity for the trainer to scoop up the prize pot on 27th December, but we would be surprised if Kitty’s Light is the one that secures victory.
Secret Reprieve – 12/1
Throughout the 2020 festive period, Secret Reprieve was the one to beat. He won back-to-back races at Chepstow in December and a month later in January, proving that he has great pedigree at the racecourse. He has only raced twice since, finishing 5th in last year’s Welsh National and then pulling up at Haydock in February.
While he hasn’t run for a while, if he can rediscover the form that led him to back-to-back Chepstow wins, don’t be surprised to see him usurp the two favourites.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.